


Lonely Wanderer

by StereoChromatic



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Desolate AU, Dreams, Fear, Gen, Horror, Hurt, IS THERE ANYONE THERE?, Loneliness, Monsters, Nightmares, Space Kid Needs a Hug, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23246515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StereoChromatic/pseuds/StereoChromatic
Summary: Space Kid dreams of exploring vast, barren planets for the benefit of humanity, but fate is a cruel mistress, and the little astronaut's sweet dreams will become a waking nightmare.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	1. There is No Wind on the Moon, Is there?

“Night mom.” Space Kid said softly as he tucked himself snugly underneath his bedsheets as he closed his eyes. Dressed in his rocket pyjamas, he listened as his mother’s footsteps faded into nothing, as he began falling asleep.

“Navigation systems online.” The plucky astronaut reported as he input a series of numbers into the lunar rover. The sun reflected brightly off the Moonbase’s solar panels, and the rover was now fully charged and ready for another expedition. Checking his suit for any damage, Armstrong Jr put on his space helmet and drove the buggy out of the base. The mission was the same as last time. Collect rocks. 

The little astronaut trundled along slowly and carefully to avoid damaging the rover. The piercing sunlight shone over him, lens flare glaring across his visor, and every clank and bump on the uneven lunar surface threatened to knock him off balance. Eventually, he and his moon buggy made it to the lip of the impact crater where he was meant to be rock collecting. Carefully, he hopped off the moon buggy and made his way down into the crater. 

The rocks themselves weren’t particularly hard to carry, and the Spaceman had a bag full of them to carry up the crater wall on his back by the time he had finished picking them up. He gradually, with an awful lot of difficult, and multiple pauses, hauled the bag of moon rocks up the wall to the edge of the crater. Reaching the top, Neil Jr took one last look at the lunar valley before him.

As he gazed into the distance, he felt a gust of wind ruffle against his suit, and the astronaut was suddenly shaken with a feeling of concern.

“Wind? In space?” Space Kid spoke, apparently to no one. The thought swam around in his head as he drove back to the Moonbase. 

‘You can’t get wind in space, not like on earth. There’s solar wind, but that’s not the same thing.’ He listened to the sound of his internal thoughts as they scattered across his synapses, while he drove on. Making it back to the base, he parked the moon buggy outside and, just for a moment, stared upwards at the stars. They were littered all over the lunar sky, although Space Kid was conscious of the fact there were stars on the opposite side as well. It was something he had always treasured, ever since he could see, and it was no wonder this view of the night sky was in every dream of space he had. After a while, the Spaceman got up and walked back into the Moonbase, holding his bag of rocks. Once inside the pristine, white-walled building, and safe from the elements (or lack of), he removed his helmet and got to work on analysing the moon rocks.

The astronaut studied them to detail, and noted the results down. However, moon rock analysis is easily the most boring bit about moon missions, and it wasn’t long before his vision became hazy, and then the image was gone altogether, which plunged Space Kid into an even deeper, and dreamless, sleep.

It was several hours before Space Kid began to dream again, and this one began just as suddenly. Space Kid found himself accompanied only by darkness, and the feeling of the wet mud he was standing on. At least, he thought it was wet mud, it could have been anything, or nothing. This was a dream, right? As he began to walk, he noticed a few rays of light in the distance. Slowly, he walked towards it, as he tried to decipher the texture and material of the walls that lined his path.

So far, all he could see was a deep shade of black, pierced by white light. It didn’t faze him that his feet squelched into the mud with every step he took, there was light at the end of the tunnel, though the echoes it carried felt unnatural and disconcerting. Further and further, he walked on, leaning slightly against the wall, which felt just as squishy and unstable as the floor beneath him. 

As he got closer to the light, he began to see colour, and noticed the walls were a reddish black, with rough contours dotted everywhere along it. Space Kid decided that it was indeed mud, and kept walking. Finally, he made it to the exit of the ‘cave’, and was greeted by something even more bizarre. The sky was a bony grey, and in front of him was an endless expanse of white sand, empty and motionless. Space Kid, cautious, double checked he was wearing his fishbowl helmet, the one that he wore every day and kept at his bedside at night. 

Satisfied, Space Kid kept on walking. The expanse was eerily silent, with no trace of wind, a sun, or even anything resembling water in the near distance.

“Think, Neil. This is clearly a desert.” He told himself, as he struggled onward. Space Kid glanced behind him as he walked, observing the footprints that he left behind, which slowly began to disappear, even though there was no wind.

‘That can’t be right.’ He thought to himself. It wasn’t physically possible. ‘This has to be a dream, right?’

Space Kid began to walk quicker. All of a sudden, the uneasy quiet was replaced by a unique fear, one that Space Kid had only felt in others before, when he regaled his horror stories in front of everyone at camp. He did not know what it was that was scaring him, but the fear continued to build. Space Kid searched frantically for the source of the danger, but there was nothing in the distance he could see. He turned around, trying to see anything, a figure, a shape.

Space Kid broke out into a run, going further from the cave, as he spotted an indented line in the sand, which soon became two. Running as fast as his legs would carry him, Space Kid daren’t look back, or he would notice the lines getting ever closer. Suddenly, all of his senses were halted as a piercing roar levelled his perception of reality into a series of blurry lines. 

Space Kid wanted to scream. ‘This is a dream. Wake up!’ a calm voice uttered among the screeching madness, and Space Kid pinched himself.

Space Kid awoke in his bed, still in his pyjamas, and checked himself over to see if that dream monster thing had eaten any of his body parts. Thankfully, it hadn’t.

‘It’s a dream, silly!’ Space Kid thought to himself. The sun had already risen, and the light glistened through his window, shining on the deep blue walls that his Mom had painted with stars. There was usually birds at this hour, but Space Kid didn’t hear a peep. Nevertheless, he got dressed into his favourite space uniform, and he walked across the house, all the way to his Mom’s room. 

“Mom?” Space Kid called out, as he opened the door. He looked out across the room, and saw there was nobody there. 

“Maybe they’re downstairs.” Space Kid reassured himself. Steeling himself, he ran downstairs and looked in every other room.

“Mom? Dad?” he called. But there was still no response. “They were here yesterday.” He muttered, slightly bewildered by the silence. He took a peek out the window. Normally there was a car or two passing every few seconds; This was downtown Houston, after all. Cars beeped all the time here, and Space Kid knew that his mom always hated it. But alas, there was not a car to be seen, nor any pedestrians, or even any dogs, or birds, come to think of it. A small sense of fear returned. 

“Where is everyone?” he asked himself.


	2. Communication Error

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space Kid tries to wrestle with the fact that nobody is around, and searches for signs of anyone else.

Space Kid slumped in a chair as he poured himself some cereal. The burning question of where everyone had disappeared to could wait, he needed to eat. ‘At least the milk is still in the fridge.’ he thought, as he hauled the carton of milk to the table, and ate his breakfast. Meal over, he ambled over to the living room where the landline phone rested. He looked through the contacts and found the mobile numbers of both of his parents. He tried to ring Mom first.

*No Answer*

He tried to ring his dad, but Space Kid heard the phone from the upstairs floor, and his father clearly wasn’t there, so he waited for it to stop. There was no answer. He looked further down the list, and picked Buzz Aldrin. Space Kid rang his number, but again, there was no answer. The same was true for all of the numbers, including David’s. 

Worried sick, Space Kid put down the phone and began to pace around the house. For the first time in his life, he was entirely alone. No one he knew was around, and from what he had seen so far, no one else either. Space Kid sat on the bottom step of the stairwell, and tears began to fall from his eyes. 

“I’m not crying. I’m okay.” He said to himself, but the streaks that slowly trickled down his face told a different story. Space Kid repeated those same words to himself over and over, quieter and quieter, until he at least had the resolve to stand up again. 

“I still don’t know what’s going on.” He thought aloud. “Maybe I should find out.” He mumbled quietly to himself. He wiped his eyes, and headed to the front of the house, taking a house key from the drawer and putting on his boots. If he was going to find anyone, he was going to find them outside. 

It was a beautiful day. It was comfortably warm, and there was not a cloud in the sky as the sun’s rays beamed. And yet, the silence, and the stillness, was the most pervading thing that caught Space Kid’s attention. Any cars that he could see in the distance were parked, and there was still no sign of any people or animals. 

Undeterred, Space Kid walked up to the door of his next door neighbour. His car was still parked in the driveway, so logically, he should be home. Space Kid knocked loudly, but after 30 seconds of waiting, there was no response. Space Kid knocked again, but there was still nothing. He then peered through his window, yet there was no sign of life. Space Kid hopped down from the neighbour's step and continued walking, with a disappointed expression.

“My parents and family are gone, the neighbors are gone, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone here. Did I miss something?” Space Kid asked himself. “Maybe if I checked the news. They’d know.” the little astronaut, slightly perked up by his idea, turned around and returned home. Sticking the house key into the door, he turned the lock and went inside. 

Space Kid entered the living room and took a look at the TV that rested on the wall. Sticking to his plan, he reached for the remote and switched on the Television. After a short amount of buzzing and whirring, the TV started up and began to show a test pattern. Space Kid looked puzzled, as he began to flick through channels, none of them turning up anything besides that pattern or a blank screen.

“Hmm, maybe there’s an issue with the satellites”. Space Kid pondered, hoping that at least someone would still be here. He got up, turned the TV off, and switched on his mother’s computer. It was password protected, Space Kid found out, has he began to type any logical combinations he thought of, such as his mom’s maiden name or something about him. They were all incorrect, and it wasn’t long before Space Kid ended up locking the computer.

“Mom’s good at passwords.” He mumbled to himself, as he looked around for anything else that could contact the outside world. 

“Maybe there’ll be something on the radio?” Space Kid suggested faintly. He headed towards the kitchen table, on which the radio sat, and picked up the radio. Turning the power on, he was surprised to hear nothing at all emanate from it, not even static. 

“That’s odd.” Space Kid quietly exclaimed, puzzled. He turned the radio over and checked to see if it still had batteries inside. 

It didn’t. Space Kid put down the radio for the moment and began to search around the house for 3 AAA batteries. He rifled drawers in every room, before eventually coming across one that had batteries inside, but there was only a pack of AAs and a 9V. 

“Dang it.” Space Kid uttered as he looked despairingly at the functionally empty drawer. He returned to the radio and picked it up again. 

“There should be some batteries at the store.” He thought aloud. He took a house key and some pocket money as he prepared to go outside again, radio in hand. 

The sun had risen slightly higher, not that it made the silence any less scary. Space Kid ambled past parked cars and walked out onto the next street. He stuck to the sidewalk, even though there were no cars on the road. That rule had been ingrained into him long ago. He kept on walking, with nothing to hear other than his own footsteps and the distant sound of wind. 

In the distance, there were a few local businesses, and Space Kid noticed that all of them were shut, presumably for the night, but they had not reopened. It was only 8am, and Space Kid knew that, but he had at least expected someone to be inside setting up shop, but there was no trace of anyone. 

The wind began to pick up as Space Kid got within sight of the 24hr Supermarket. He had been walking for several minutes by now, and he still hadn’t met anyone on his expedition. He could hear the sound of the wind as it breezed past his helmet, but Space Kid pressed on regardless. 

The supermarket car park was no less empty than the road, with scores of empty parking spaces only populated by one or two parked cars, none of which were occupied. The little astronaut kept his focus on the supermarket itself, however, and walked across to the shop entrance.

The automatic double doors opened, and Space Kid walked inside, putting a brave smile on his face. The aisles were completely empty, save of a small number of abandoned trolleys, some of which had random stock inside.

“What on earth?” Space Kid whispered slowly to himself as he studied the empty aisles which the lights shone on like endless celestial hallways. Having looked carefully through every aisle, failing to spot even a single customer or even a staff member, he finally came across the homeware appliances aisle, which contained a small section dedicated to batteries. Space Kid picked out a set of AAAs from the shelf and took it with him. The checkout was not too far away, and he made it there without any difficulty, but there was another problem.

There was no one at the till. Not even a single soul. There wasn’t anyone at customer service either, even though it was already well into the day time. There hadn’t been a trace of any employee during Space Kid’s shopping trip, nor any human being since he woke up, and Space Kid was beginning to question whether there was anyone else at all.

“Hello? Is there anyone there?” he called out, his voice echoing around the empty walls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to whoever left kudos! i really appreciate it!


	3. Despair and Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space Kid finds out how alone he truly is.

“Hello?” It quickly became apparent to Space Kid that he was the only one in the store. Nevertheless, after a short pause, he walked over to the self-service checkout, which was still working, and bought the pack of AAA batteries. Going back outside into the car park, he opened the pack of batteries and inserted them into the radio, carefully double checking he put them in the right way. 

He turned the radio on, and the radio picked up static. ‘Good, it’s working.’ Space Kid thought. He tuned the radio onto different wavelengths, but the only things he found was more static interspersed with complete radio silence. He fiddled with it a few more times, switching from FM , to long wave and medium wave, even attempting to pick up foreign stations like the BBC World service, with no change in results.

“Oh, the radios aren’t working either…” Space Kid groaned despairingly. Mentally and spiritually exhausted, Space Kid sat on the kerb and sighed as he stared down at his feet. “Maybe I am the only one.” He mumbled. He held his face in his hands and felt like he was going to cry again, but something stopped him. A bitter wind chilled past, shivering him to his spine. 

“I don’t actually know that.” Space Kid argued with himself. He was right of course, there wasn’t really any way he could know, because without anyone else around, the only evidence of everyone’s disappearance was his, and his alone.

“Disappeared? Or are they dead? Space Kid wondered. “I haven’t seen any dead people…” 

“…but clearly there’s nobody here. It doesn’t make any sense.” Space Kid began to tap his foot on the asphalt as he struggled to wrap his head around the situation. “I don’t know how, or why, or what is happening, and I just, *sniff* can’t…” the floodgates began to open and Space Kid could do nothing but cry. Tears streamed down his cheeks as the confusion and fear surrounded him and hit him with the emotional force of a freight train. The sniffling and weeping was interspersed with small whimpers that were lost to the wind.

It hurt not to have someone comforting him at a time of need like this; all he wanted was a hand on his shoulder and a voice telling him he’ll be okay. His Mom used to do that, and thinking of her only made Space Kid cry even more. Space Kid tried to lean on that memory, repeating the words in his head, before his emotions caught up with him again.  
“How will I be okay!?” Space Kid gave out an anguished cry, spilling even more tears. “Where is everyone?” he asked. The omnipresent silence was the only thing that greeted him, and the wind began to die down. The sun’s warmth began to beam down on him. “I miss mom.” He admitted to himself, as the sun shone around him. 

The rays shining on his back gave a familiar feeling of comfort, which allowed Space Kid to recompose himself. Gradually, the tears stopped flowing, and Space Kid’s mind began to clear, eventually realising he was still sitting on a kerb in the middle of an empty parking lot.

“I should go home.” he muttered, picking up his radio as he stood up and began walking. Space Kid walked back home, still taking the pavement, the street completely identical as before. The walk felt longer and more arduous than last time, and Space kid could feel his feet start to ache, not that he would let that bother him. There were bigger things to worry about.

How everyone was able to disappear simultaneously was a complete mystery to Space Kid, and Space Kid looked befuddled as he turned his key in the door to his house and walked back inside. Putting the radio back on the table, Space Kid pulled out a chair and sat down. 

“I still don’t know what happened.” Space Kid sat for a few moments, before taking off his helmet, and walking over to the fridge to grab a glass and a carton of orange juice, before returning. “I wish Mom was here, she’d know.” Space Kid poured the orange juice into his glass and chugged it down in a manner he had only seen his father do when he drank whiskey after a hard day. Space Kid finished his drink and put his glass down. 

What would Mom do?” Space Kid poured himself another glass, only this time he drank it a lot slower, as he thought back to when Mom used to help him with homework. His Mom was an engineer at NASA, that alone was proof of her intelligence, and she would often have wise words for Space Kid to fall back on at school.

‘Start by looking at what you do know.’ was one of them, and that was the thought that immediately popped into Space Kid’s head. 

“Ok, so what DO I know?” He pondered aloud as he finished his drink for a second time, leaving the table, before returning after fetching a pencil and a piece of paper. 

“No sign of anybody in town.” Space Kid scribbled down on the paper. “-Dead or alive.” 

“There’s no one on the TV or radio” Space Kid wrote on the line underneath. “So what does that mean?” Space Kid looked up, tapping the pencil against his chin as he racked his brain for an answer. 

“There is nobody in America.” He wrote down. “or in England.” His knowledge dried up after that.

“Hold on, maybe if I…” Space Kid hopped off the chair and grabbed the TV remote. 

Space Kid turned the TV on again, flicking through the channels, paying attention to see if any foreign networks cropped up. He flicked through Russia Today Al Jazeera, and NHK World-Japan, but none of them were broadcasting, either. Space Kid returned to the table and wrote down the new information, after turning the TV back off. “Russia too, and Japan, and the Middle East.”

“The whole world seems to have disappeared.” Space Kid muttered to himself. “Though I’m not sure how.” Space Kid put his pencil down and leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. Whilst the initial shock of that revelation had subsided, the prevailing emotion swirling around Space Kid’s mind was now one of confusion. It was almost impossible to fathom any scenario in which he, and only he, was the last person on earth, let alone one that happened so quickly. All that Space Kid had to go on were the disasters he was taught about in school, and whatever films he had seen on TV. He had a cursory knowledge of these things, but that paled in comparison to his knowledge of space, which seemed pretty useless now, come to think of it.

Space Kid ignored that worrying thought and considered one of many scenarios. “An earthquake?” he asked himself. “No, everything’s still standing.” “Volcanoes? No, it can’t be, that’s too slow. Everyone was here before I went to bed last night.” “Meteors? No, they’re too slow too.” 

‘This is going to take a while.’ Thought Space Kid, as he struggled to come up with anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts on this! I appreciate your Feedback!


	4. The NASA Space Center

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space Kid heads for his mom's place of work, the Johnson Space Center, in search of answers.

Space Kid began to reach further into his mind. “A pandemic? No. I need something that can happen overnight. Like aliens, or something supernatural.”

‘Aliens?’ the thought crossed his mind again. It seemed unlikely, but that was better than what he had come up with so far. Fortunately, the answer to that question wasn’t too far away, with the Johnson Space Center being so close by, and even if that wasn’t the case, he was sure any cameras there would at least show him the truth. 

It was a lot further than going to the store, however. His mom always took the car to work, but Space Kid had neither the knowledge nor the height to drive a car, so he would have to walk, 

‘Or maybe take that bike from the garage.’ He remembered. ‘The one with the star patterns and the stabilisers that dad got me for my birthday.’ Even then, that would take plenty of energy, so Space Kid decided to eat lunch first, using whatever was left that he could prepare himself, as he pondered the best way to get there. 

‘I think the bike will be quicker.’ Space Kid thought as he bit into a ham and salami sandwich. The rest of lunch was not nearly as intricate, consisting of more orange juice, a packet of crisps, and a slice of cheese, before Space Kid considered himself done and left to find the garage keys, not letting himself be distracted by the bleakness. 

After a bit of searching, he eventually found the keys and headed outside, and even though he had the keys, opening the garage door proved to be a lot harder than Space Kid had anticipated, with his diminutive size and the rigid metallic weight of the door, he could only lift it half way, just enough to duck inside and not have the door shut on him. His bike sat cluttered amongst the various tools, hardware and other junk that was scattered across the garage floor, stabilisers still attached. Space Kid slowly pulled the bike away from the mess and wheeled it under the garage door, before ducking underneath and following it, as the door fell shut behind him. 

With his Space Helmet screwed on tight, he began to turn the pedals and cycle down the empty barren street once again. The roads and pathways were just as empty as they were a couple of hours ago, and the only noise you could here was the sound of Space Kid’s rattling wheels, which trundled along the path, at the pace an adult could brisk-walk. The sun beamed down almost directly above him, and with it, the heat. It wasn’t quite the time of year to be roasting like a shrimp, but it was still warm enough to make Space Kid feel uncomfortable, though he pressed on, unfazed.

Passing by the supermarket without even a second thought, Space Kid kept going and rode onto unfamiliar road. The way ahead of him was arrow straight, populated only by a small array of vacant buildings and the grass and trees on the ground on which the city stood. Space Kid hoped it would have been different. Now the initial shock had dissipated, seeing the emptiness copied across different parts of the city was staring to become boring. Seeing a landmark in the same condition might have been interesting, but Space Kid wasn’t lucky enough to live near one, unless you considered the NASA space center a landmark.

Riding on continually was making Space Kid feel fatigued, and for a few moments, he wanted to stop, if only to catch his breath. He stopped and sat by the side of the road, watching the shadows of the trees ripple as a light breeze rattled its leaves. He looked up at the tree and looked at how the branches held firm in the face of the wind, a reminder that the tree, despite the fact that all animal life had disappeared, was still alive and well. Space Kid felt a slight renewal of hope, and the motivation to keep going. And with that, he stood up, and went away on his bicycle. 

Eventually, after half an hour of cycling, he turned onto Space Center Boulevard, and although the Space Center was out of sight, Space Kid, in his pursuit of an answer, was not slowing. He rode out into the empty road and pedalled hard, taking a breather now and again, before finally he was within sight of the Center. 

Space Kid had made it. The other problem, however, was finding a way to get inside. Space Kid observed the momentous height of the security fences that surrounded the compound, and wished he had remembered to take his Mom’s security pass. He wasn’t going to turn back - He’d already been cycling for long enough, but climbing the fence seemed like a bad idea.

“The fence is probably electrified” Space kid thought aloud. “Or it sets off an alarm. One of the two.” He looked around for some alternative entrance, scoping the area for something like a rabbit hole, or a secret door. He walked closer to the gate to get a better view, but suddenly startled by the whirring of a security camera, he worriedly looked upwards. The camera studied his facial features closely, as Space Kid gave it a sheepish, awkward smile. To his surprise, the light on it shone a bright green, and the gate opened itself for him. 

“It recognised me.” Space Kid realised, as he strode proudly into the Johnson Space Center, leaving his bike by the entrance. His mother had once taken him inside when he was very small, and it was one of Space Kid’s earliest memories. Space Kid kept on walking, noticing that, much like the rest of the world, there was no activity at all. 

The place was huge, with large rectangular buildings nestled amongst a huge, featureless expanse, and Space Kid almost lost himself trying to decide where to go first. Ahead of him was a large cluster of buildings, which were packed in much more densely than the other areas. Logically the most likely place to find answers, Space Kid headed in that direction. Once there, he took a brief look at areas like the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, where an abandoned Moon Buggy lay, half-built, before he moved on.

Several empty parking lots and tiny trunk roads later, Space Kid found himself in front of the main building: Mission Control, and with an air of confidence and a renewed sense of purpose, he walked inside. 

The reception area was as welcoming as Space Kid could have hoped for, with pristine blue carpet neatly laid by the entrance being offset by the lack of anyone behind the counter. Space Kid walked up to the counter regardless, and looked around for any signposted directions, and not finding any. He turned and walked through the door on his right. 

The smooth and sterile corridor walls lent him no clues as he wandered around the building. Without a map, or any idea of where the answers might be found, Space Kid became hopelessly lost. Poking his head inside each and every room, he gazed in marvel at all of the space tech left unattended inside, before moving on, because on closer inspection, it wasn’t going to help him right now. 

After several cycles of trial and error, Space Kid made it into the control room. The large projections on the wall displayed the earth alongside various data points that only Space Kid was nerdy enough to understand. The computers in front of him were also displaying various space-related graphical datasets, which was all very interesting, but what Space Kid was really looking for was security footage. He scanned the room visually, and noticed a small computer behind him at the back of the room.

Space Kid looked at it and immediately saw the footage, currently displaying him on a 10 second delay. 

“Hmm, maybe I can find out what happened, if only I could find a way to rewind this.” Space Kid pondered verbally as he sat at the computer. He shook the mouse, and the cursor whizzed across the screen. Satisfied that it was working, Space Kid navigated his way around it and began to watch the security footage from the previous night, fast-forwarded. It took him a while, but eventually he found the point where the people disappeared, which, according to the screen, was at around midnight. 

Space Kid scrolled back to just before then and watched it play out in normal speed. As the footage closed in on midnight, the moment of truth came. Space Kid watched as an entire group of people disappeared instantaneously, without a trace. There was no explosion, no ray of light, no tractor beam, nothing. Just vanished, like magic. 

“woahh.” Space Kid whooshed as the reality of what had happened hit him. "They just disappeared." He added.

“Where did they go?” he exclaimed in a whisper, as he tried to suggest an answer. Clearly this was something supernatural, something not known to science. ‘If only Harrison was here. He’d know.’ Space Kid thought back to his memories of camp, about Harrison’s magic, Max and the other kids and about how much of a crazy kook Quartermaster was. ‘He’d have some answers too.’

“I should check the camp for answers. If there’s any way to solve this, I’ll find it there.” He affirmed to himself. 

There was only one obstacle standing between him and the truth. Camp Campbell was 2000 miles away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to give feedback! Do you like the story so far? Have any recommendations for me?


	5. Making Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space Kid, fresh with the knowledge of what happens, returns home to plan for a much longer journey.

2000 miles was going to be a long trip, and even Space Kid knows that you can’t possibly do that without being adequately prepared. Besides, he was still at the Space Center, so the first thing on his mind was getting back home. He could draw up any future plans from there. 

Space Kid took his time taking one last look at the control room, before making his way to the exit. The hallways weren’t as foreboding as they used to be, now that Space Kid had his answers. With a renewed motivation, he exited the front doors of the building and walked back to the gate, where his bike had been resting. 

The camera detected him as he walked out, and automatically the gate closed behind him. Space Kid’s thoughts drifted as he began to ride his bicycle back the same way he came. ‘What sort of thing would be capable of disappearing people instantaneously, and without damaging anything?’ More importantly, why was he still here? What made him so different that he remained?

“Am I special?” he asked himself. “Or is it everyone else that is?” Space Kid didn’t normally consider religion in his thoughts, but he had heard about the rapture before, from a televangelist his second-grade teacher showed him. And with events as bizarre as they were, he couldn’t help but wonder.

“Would I be the only one God left here?” he asked. He thought for a bit as he rode on, eventually making it off the Space Center Boulevard. “That can’t be.” Space Kid concluded. “If that was true, there’d be plenty of non-religious people here.” He added. (A fair few 'hateful Christians’ would too, but Space Kid is too innocent to think of it that way.)

The way back home was just as long and tiring as before, only that the wheels on Space Kid’s bicycle were now beginning to creak as he turned them. Space Kid had barely used it since his parents bought it, and the chain was definitely in need of some oil, not that Space Kid had any to hand. The creaking slowly started to build in volume, as he continued to ride, a little faster now, considering the rate at which his bike was deteriorating. Each turn of the pedals wore him out more and more.

As he passed by the supermarket, the chain on his bike finally snapped, and his wheels were now no longer taking him anywhere. The chain resting shattered in little pieces on the tarmac. Space Kid got off the bike and sat on the kerb, quietly despairing at the luck that befell him. This was no time to cry, however. It wasn’t too far that he couldn’t just push it home, but Space Kid only had so much stamina in him, and he needed a rest.

Space Kid watched the trees rustle in the afternoon breeze as he caught his breath, before he eventually got going again. The rattling of the stabilisers on his bike was the only noise that emanated as he slowly pushed it back. The beaming of the sun hadn’t bothered him up to this point, but now it was low enough in the sky to be shining directly into his face, and his space helmet didn’t offer enough tint to protect his eyes, so he was forced to look down at the pavement, which only slowed him down. 

Weary and exhausted after two long trips, Space Kid wheeled his broken bike back into his family’s garage and let himself inside his house. Immediately he went to get himself a glass of water, and a chocolate bar from the cupboard, to regain some of his energy. Additionally, he also retrieved his pen and paper from earlier, to start planning the 2000 mile trek. 

Space Kid made a few notes as he ate, starting with a rough sketch of the USA, and Camp Campbell’s relative location, which was somewhere close to where the Nevada and Oregon Borders met California. Space Kid found a calculator and typed in how long it would take to travel there at walking speed. 

Walking alone, it would take over a month. 

Space Kid put down the calculator and drank some more water. Clearly he would have to requisition some motorised vehicle or something. Time was of the essence, not just for the sake of everyone else but for Space Kid’s own sanity. He knew he wouldn’t really be able to handle an entire month on his own. Heck, even 3 months at Camp Campbell was lonely at ties, and he had friends there. 

Taking a normal car was out of the question though. “I can’t reach the pedals on a car. Plus it would be stealing, and I can't see over the steering wheel”. He muttered hopelessly. He made some notes on his piece of paper.

“I might be able to use a golf buggy, or a go kart. That’d be nice.” He thought aloud. He then finished eating his chocolate bar, which prompted him to check the cupboard for any food he could take with him on his upcoming journey. Space Kid didn’t want to borrow other people’s food and shelter if he didn’t need too, which is why he made a list of items he could take and eat without cooking, like crisps, cereals, bread, jam, honey, biscuits and allsorts. There was enough there to last him a couple of days.

“I could always get more from the supermarket if I run out.” Space Kid said to himself, satisfied. 

By now, it was nearing evening, and despite the pressing issue he was presented with, Space Kid thought it stupid to leave now without getting some rest, so he looked for ways to fill the remaining hours before bedtime with something to do. Watching TV was not an option, it would have to be something that didn’t require the help of anyone else. 

‘A DVD would probably still work.’ Space Kid thought as he took a copy of Apollo 13 out of his parents’ DVD drawer. He spent the rest of the evening watching the film, as well as brainstorming for any more useful ideas for his journey, though the film was so engrossing that he forgot to add to his notes. 

Afterwards he made himself dinner, in the form of a microwavable packet of rice. It wasn’t too difficult to heat up, thankfully. Just a case of reading the instructions and pressing a few buttons. Space Kid heated up the rice in the microwave and took it out, nearly burning himself as he carried it, before putting it on a plate. Space Kid happily ate the rice, after mixing it with some ketchup, following it up with a banana for dessert. The fruit bowl would definitely be taken along, though maybe not in its current container. Space Kid was sure it was going to break, even if he could carry it carefully. 

Once he had finished, he put his cutlery away in the dishwasher and then went upstairs to get ready for bed. It was dark now, and once he had brushed his teeth and got into his pyjamas, he went to bed, his mind still racing from the events of the day, and possibly the events to come too. Tomorrow was going to be a tough day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're enjoying it so far! All feedback is appreciated!


	6. The Trek Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space Kid begins the first leg of his 2000 mile journey to camp in search of an answer to the mystery.

Morning broke as the sun slowly crept up the horizon, gently waking Space Kid with the soft strokes of its rays. The little astronaut slowly sat up, and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t had the best night’s sleep; he had been hearing whispers in his sleep. He wasn’t able to perceive what those whispers were saying, but it interrupted his slumber nonetheless.   
Space Kid brushed those thoughts aside without complaint as he got up out of bed and made his way downstairs to have some food. 

It would be the last meal he had before setting out on his journey. Space Kid took out a box of cereal and a bowl and the last of the milk, and ate a hearty breakfast. Once he had finished that, he took a look at his list and started packing the various things he needed to take with him. All the essentials: food, a torch, a map, a watch, water, as well as a few other things. Stuffing as much as he could carry into a rucksack, he ventured out of the door.

Space Kid used the angle of the sun to locate which direction north was, and decided to travel in that direction. Following a series of roads no less empty than those he had travelled yesterday, he slowly headed north. The weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky, the air a cool 20 degrees Celsius. Space Kid walked up to a junction, and noticed a sign for a golf course nearby. In the hope that a golf cart would get him to his destination quicker, he decided to walk towards the golf course.

There was only one cart there, and by the looks of it, it wasn’t in the best shape. As he peered at it, he realised he’d need a key to start it, so Space Kid took a look to see if he could get inside the reception. The front door was locked, but equally, it was old and thin, made with wood that was chipping away from repeated use. Space Kid gave it a kick and the door swung open easily. The keys to the golf buggy were sitting invitingly in a small pencil pot on the front desk. 

Space Kid was normally averse to stealing, but figured that the owners would be thankful if he managed to get them back from whatever hellish place they had been taken to, if that was where they were. He took the keys from the pot and started up the buggy. Space Kid noticed two things at first. One, the buggy ran on petrol, which was good news. Two, the buggy had barely any fuel left. Space Kid could barely see above the wheel as he pressed the pedals with his stubby little legs, as the golf buggy jolted forward.

‘This is way less comfortable than the moon buggy in my dreams’ thought Space Kid, as the cart hopped and bounced over every bump he came across. Eventually, however, he settled into a comfortable position, seeing enough over the wheel that he could see the road and the scenery around it. 

Space Kid utilised his sense of direction again to turn his way north. The road became a lot more barren shortly after, and Space Kid sped up, trying not to look at the desolate mess of a Superfund site that he was driving past. Instead, Space Kid decide to focus on finding a petrol station, and, because Houston was such a large city, he did not have to go very far at all before he found one.

Stopping the buggy and switching off the engine, Space Kid set about finding a jerry can. It was certainly not impossible that Space Could fill it straight from the hose, but the little astronaut felt that lumbering the fuel hose around would be incredibly difficult, not to mention risky. Space Kid had noticed the warning signs about not having children fill up the tank, but again, it wasn’t like he had any choice but to disobey the rules, again.

Taking a jerry can from a nearby wall, he grabbed the hose and filled it up as much as he could, before pouring it into the buggy’s tank. Space Kid had to repeat the process several times, because he was only strong enough to lift 5 litres of fuel at a time. The smell of petrol was beginning to rub off on him by the time he had finished, and he put the fuel hose back, before puttering away in his now fully fuelled buggy. 

The surrounding area was becoming more city-like again, not that there was any people to distinguish the difference. Space Kid, now no longer worried about fuel, stood on the gas pedal and accelerated, to what amounted to a measly 30mph. Nevertheless, it was way faster than walking, and Space Kid made steady ground. Passing under a large expressway, Space Kid figured he should turn his way onto the freeway and continue, heading westbound.

Here the road opened up enormously, and with no cars on the road, Space Kid relaxed a bit as he saw he had more room to drive. The silent city below him was the only scenery for miles, as he continued until the ring road bent north, after which he took the next available westbound exit.

This next road was straight too, and by the next hour, he was out of Houston. It wasn’t until 40 minutes later and about 50 miles west of his starting point that Space Kid reached a fork in the road, at a tiny Podunk town named Simonton. Stopping at a junction, Space Kid took a moment to check his fuel gauge. It was already half empty (apparently, Golf buggies only have a range of 100 miles). He looked around, and took a right turn, seeing another junction heading west. 

The road to the next town was also rather featureless, save for a small left turn and a bridge over a local river. Space Kid took a rest for a short while as he ate a snack from his bag, before continuing on, making a right turn onto Highway 36 at Wallis, before finally turning left onto the interstate at Sealy. Space Kid passed a fuel stop as he drove, believing he could make it to the next town with whatever fuel he had left.

Space Kid arrived in the town of Columbus, Texas, with around 10 miles of fuel left. He stopped for fuel before eating lunch from his bag under the shade of a tree. The silence was ever present here too, and it daunted Space Kid that the sheer scale of the task he was undertaking. It wasn’t just Houston that was gone, he of course knew that from earlier, but seeing the desolate stillness in person was a different feeling altogether. 

It was a chilling reminder that whatever he was up against, what made those people in the Space Center disappear, was real and the consequences were laid out before him. A ghost town. A lonely plain of nothingness. The weight of the world appeared to have fallen on Space Kid’s shoulders, as he struggled to push himself up and keep going.

‘No one’s around to help’ Space Kid thought despairingly, as he sat against the tree, looking down at his feet. He thought for a bit, to try and motivate himself.

“No one’s around to stop you, either.” Space Kid encouraged himself, using his willpower to get back up and into the golf buggy. 

Space Kid resumed driving on the deserted interstate, passing by empty towns and featureless fields until he was low on fuel again, stopping for petrol at Seguin, before eating another snack, drinking some water, and getting going again. The sun faced him now as he drove west, and his golf buggy wasn’t offering anything to protect him from it, but Space Kid wasn’t going to let that faze him. He stayed on the interstate as he passed through San Antonio, continuing on it even as he headed north-west. 

84 miles later at a small place appropriately named Comfort, Space Kid stopped for fuel as he watched the sun start to drop down. It was almost sunset, and Space Kid mulled over whether to continue into to the night, or call it a day whilst he was in town. A brief observance of the sunset ahead of him gave him his answer. The sky radiated in soft pinks dotted by light puffs of cloud which only accentuated the picturesque scene in front of him.

Space Kid sat on a rock and ate some pre-packed food he’d brought as he watched the sun go down, and decided he’d done enough for the day. He’d only seen a sunset once before, back when he was at camp. David had everyone go hike up a hill, and everyone had complained until David had shown them the sky, and everything the light touched below. ‘It was like the scene from Lion King!’, he remembered Preston saying at the time. 

Dinner over, Space Kid looked around for a place to sleep. Space Kid was hoping there’d be a hotel, or somewhere with an open door. He wanted to avoid breaking and entering if he could, even though there was no one around.

Fortunately, Space Kid found an Inn a couple of streets away. The door opened with little effort, as Space Kid made his way inside, and flumped onto one of the beds, completely exhausted and in need of some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, Sorry i was so late. I do hope you're enjoying this.
> 
> Let me know what you think of it!


	7. Days 2+3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space Kid begins to understand how long (and boring) a 2000 mile road trip really is.

The whispers returned in his sleep, though the words were becoming clearer now. Space Kid could have sworn he heard voices calling out. “Help Us.” They said, as Space Kid woke up, rubbing his eyes as the sun peered through the tatty, ripped curtains that lined the windows of the humble accommodation Space Kid had claimed for the night.

Space Kid declined to eat more food from his bag, electing instead to eat some cereal that had been left behind. The milk in that inn was still fresh, but only just, and it would have been a waste not to. Once Breakfast was over, Space Kid took his bag and headed outside and back to the golf buggy. 

With both his vehicle and his stomach fuelled up, he set out once again on his journey. Starting off heading northwest on the interstate, Space Kid watched the scenery to pass the time as he trundled along at the measly speed of 30 miles per hour. Though motivated by the necessity of his quest, Space Kid found it incredibly boring. There was nothing but fields for miles and miles, and towns were few and far between. 

Eventually, he was far enough along on the road that he was beginning to run low on fuel, and there was still no town in sight. As his buggy reached its limit and began to splutter, Space Kid reached a parking area, where a number of trucks were parked. He sat on the side of his buggy as he pondered for a bit about what to do next. 

“The next town could take forever to walk to. I don’t want to walk forever, or sleep outside. Is there something I could do here?” he looked around, not seeing any petrol station, but instead catching sight of the trucks. 

“I could take some fuel from the trucks!” he realised. Space Kid got up and walked to the parked truck in front of him and inspected it. It became apparent that he did not quite know how to siphon fuel from a truck. Opening the filler cap, the hole in the top was probably just about large enough to fit his hand through. 

Space Kid set about finding a suitable container, eventually finding a plastic cup in the cabin of said truck, before returning to the fuel tank. He could not care at this point about getting his Spaceman gloves covered in petrol, not if it meant the difference between getting to the next town in ¾ of an hour as opposed to 6. After about fifteen minutes of back and forth-ing between the truck and the golf buggy, the tank was finally filled enough to go another 30 miles, which was enough for Space-Kid.

The next town he saw, Space Kid promised himself, he would refuel the buggy properly. And at the town of Sonora, he did so. By now it was 10am, and he treated himself to a little snack from his bag, which was starting to deplete, but still had enough food for a day or two. Once that was over, he continued on his journey.

The road was flat, featureless and barren. With no landmarks in sight for miles, and the heat of the sun bearing down, Space Kid found himself getting wearier. He drank some water as he drove to keep himself alert to the road, which was remarkably straight. Another 100 miles down the road, Space Kid found himself pushing his luck once more. Again he was running out of fuel, and he hoped and prayed that there would be an actual fuel stop before the car ran out. 

Amazingly, Space Kid managed to keep the buggy running on fumes for another 6 miles, where there was a fuel station waiting there for him to stop at, and one fuel-stop and lunch break later, he was back on the road. He got to Fort Stockton about an hour later, and, bored of travelling along a featureless main road, decided to take the Highway 285. This road wasn’t exciting either, but it did at least keep him awake. He ate a snack and refuelled once again at the next town, before heading off again. 

By 7pm, he had reached the town of Loving, New Mexico, and he was finally out of Texas. He refuelled and at dinner, once again he marvelled at the setting of the sun. He figured he should be up to see tomorrow’s sunrise, to see if it was any different. But that didn’t matter. What was more important was finding a place to stay in before it got too dark. Space Kid tried his luck for another 12 miles before he reached the town of Carlsbad, whereupon he found a hotel with its door open, and stayed for the night.

The next morning, Space Kid wasted no time in getting up and moving on, leaving Carlsbad at around 8am. By this point, the grass that lined the sides of the road had now become a mixture of desolate scrubland and desert sand. The sky had turned a depressing shade of grey overnight, which only further lowered Space Kid’s mood. Thankfully, it wasn’t raining, but even so, the added layer of bleakness made the day feel even longer, draining his motivation.

“Why am I still doing this?” he asked himself in frustration. He already knew the answer, but venting to the outside made Space Kid’s life more bearable. The roads were almost roman, often going on for miles without so much as a single turn, and it was unimaginably boring. 

That all changed however, about 2hours in, when he spotted a road-sign pointing to Roswell. Roswell was famous for its UFO lore, and Space Kid was suddenly very enthusiastic. He had been there before, with his parents, but Space Kid longed to relive those happy memories, so he ploughed on with a new sense of worth.

Arriving in Roswell, Space Kid refuelled the golf buggy and sat on the side of the road eating a sandwich for snack-time, admiring the town as he drew back from his previous experiences, and remembered how nice it was to be with his family. It was clear he had to get them back.

Space Kid headed west out of Roswell energised and with a renewed sense of purpose. This road was at least a lot hillier and twistier than the previous road, and by Lunchtime, he had reached the town of Carrizozo. After refueling, and having lunch, Space Kid headed northwest. The road cut through a rock formation called the Carrizozo Malpais, an ancient lava flow that flowed across the plain thousands of years ago, which made Space Kid’s view a lot more interesting, as well as making the road more claustrophobic. Once he was past that, the road opened out again. Another few hours of featureless road followed, not that Space Kid was bothered by it anymore. Seeing Roswell again was going to be the highlight of his day whatever happened. He stopped at Socorro for fuel and a tea break, before pressing on further.

Space Kid took the Can-Am Highway and followed it for the next 2.5 hours to Albuquerque, stopping for dinner, fuel and a substantial rethink. It had been three days now since he left Houston, and he was still a long way from Camp. Clearly, he would need to find something faster than the golf buggy. Space Kid decided to stay for the night, finding an open hotel where he could ponder a better mode of travel, and of course, look for somewhere to “buy” more food. 

‘But that could wait till morning’ Space Kid thought has he lay in bed, drifting off to sleep once more.


	8. The Home Stretch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space Kid finally begins to approach the end of his trek, and closer to the answers to his questions.

The whispers cried out ‘Help us!’ louder this time, and slowly Space Kid began to visualise their faces, weaved between visions of the alien white expanse and the red-walled cave. 

Space Kid woke up with a jolt. It had now been several days since he made it to Alberquerque. He was now within reasonable distance of camp, though by the way his dreams were manifesting, time appeared as though it was also beginning to run out.

Heading back to his golf buggy, he ate breakfast under the sizzling Nevada sun, before heading off. He was now roughly 200 miles from camp, according to a nearby billboard. ‘Thank god for Campbell’s ego.’ Space Kid thought. The road was as deserted and desolate as ever, and the condition of the road was a lot bumpier and poorly kept (there was evidence of roadworks, but not all of the road had been replaced). Not that the golf buggy wasn’t able to go at its top speed of 30mph. 

Space Kid had been incredibly bored of continually putting the effort in day in, day out, but now, the proximity of his goal was beginning to become a motivation of its own. Space Kid followed the sign as best he could, trundling along, and checking the dashboard periodically for when he needed to look for fuel. 

There was only one small trouble though. As the miles began to tick on, it was apparent that the next fuel stop was incredibly far away. Space Kid began frantically looking for evidence of a fuel station on the road, a sign, a billboard, anything. Eventually he saw a sign pointing at a fuel stop 5 miles away, but Space Kid had barely any fuel left. He tried to coast along for the next 10 minutes, but his buggy broke down just under a mile from the fuel station.

“Augh, dang it.” Space Kid buried his head in the steering wheel in frustration. With gritted teeth, he took the jerry can he had and began to walk. Space Kid kicked up dust on the arid desert dirt, eschewing the idea of walking on the tarmac because a. the ground was softer, and b. there was nothing that felt more astronautical than what he was doing right now, and if he was going to suffer the endless loneliness of an empty planet, he might as well pretend he was on Mars. It’d make the walk less boring anyhow. 

Despite all his efforts, walking a mile under the hot Nevada sun was tiring, and by the time he got to the petrol station, he needed a drink as much as his golf buggy did. After filling up the jerry can as high as he could and still carry it, he bought a water bottle from a nearby vending machine and on his way back, he drank it as he carried the jerry can of fuel back to his car. 

Being a small kid, Space Kid couldn’t carry a lot of fuel, but he hoped it’d be enough to drive it to the fuel station. Having put the fuel in, he started the engine and the buggy sprang to life once more. 

Space Kid parked at the fuel station and refuelled it properly, before eating a snack and setting off again. He passed another of Campbell’s billboards; now only 100 miles from camp, and by now, the roads began to get more twisty as the desert made way for grasslands, hills, and forest. The landscape was more beautiful than anything Space Kid had driven past up to that point. So many flat fields and harsh deserts had signified a bleak and desolate journey but now, the end of his journey was near, and things were looking better. 

50 miles to go, read the next of Campbell’s billboards, and Space Lid pressed on. As he drew closer and closer, Space Kid thought his mind was playing tricks on him. He swore he could hear the faintest embers of whispers, like those in his dream, but he was awake, and he didn’t quite know what to make of that. With every tree he passed, the voices became slightly more apparent, not that they were emanating from any specific direction, but that at least indicated he was going the right way.

Space Kid again began to glance occasionally at the fuel gauge as he crossed Campbell’s 25-mile billboard. He was sure he could make it to camp on the fuel he head, not that it would matter; his journey would be over soon. Several more billboards dotted the road. 15 miles, 10 miles, 5 miles, and before long he was in a place he was actually familiar with.

With barely a couple of miles left of fuel in his buggy, Space Kid pulled off the road and stopped. Sleepy Peak was even quieter than normal. As he expected now, there was nobody there, and a single roll of tumbleweed bounced along the road pathetically. It was a depressing sight, like all life on Earth was gone forever. But for the whispers, Space Kid would have believed it. He would have given up. But clearly there was something he didn’t know, that he was yet to understand. As he finished the last of his snacks, he got back in the buggy and drove off. 

He pulled off onto the dirt road that led to camp, which was incredibly bumpy, and arguably more than the buggy could handle, but with such little distance to go, Space Kid didn’t care if the buggy was broken by the end of it. There was a sense of finality as he approached the entrance to camp, like it was the key to the whole mystery. With the camp in his sight, space kid pressed hard on the accelerator, but the buggy became stuck, spinning up loose dirt as the bodywork snagged on a rock. 

Space Kid abandoned the buggy and, taking his bag of things, began to walk along the dirt road. He could see the entrance to camp like it was some proverbial finish line, and the little astronaut had nothing to fear. Space Kid hadn’t spotted any animals on his entire trip, they’d likely disappeared along with the humans, Space Kid had theorised, so no bears or wolves were going to maul him along this path. Instead the gates that led into camp were still open, and Space Kid wasted no time in walking through them.

His questions would be answered here, that much he knew. Now all he needed to know was what to look for, and as if to panic him into action, a gust of wind slammed the gates shut behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to those who were waiting for this, I got sidetracked...
> 
> I will get this fic finished though, even if doesn't get updated regularly.
> 
> Please Comment if You Enjoy this!


	9. Secrets of the 9th Dimension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space Kid searches the camp for clues, and finds more than he bargained for.

Camp looked almost as familiar to him as when he left it. The Counsellor’s cabin was still there, the mess hall was there, the lake looked as half-pristine as always, and the flag was still fluttering in the wind. Only the lack of tents made any real difference to Space Kid’s impression of it. 

What was more important, however, was to find out the real reason that everyone disappeared, and judging by the fact the whispers he heard earlier were getting louder, he knew it was nearby. The Mess Hall was Space Kid’s first port of call, so he walked up to the double doors and opened them.

Nothing there. Space Kid peered around the hall for any evidence of recent activity, and found nothing, save for a pot of rotting mashed potato, prompting Space Kid to book it the hell out of there.

Stumbling around the patchy grass of the camp, Space Kid then chose the Counsellor’s cabin as the next place to search. The door was locked, causing Space Kid to peer into the window. There was not a sign of anyone having lived there for at least 6 months. The beds were made, the drawers were shut and the lights were off. 

Space Kid left the cabin to look for any more evidence. Next on his list was the Quartermaster’s store. That was where he last saw anything verifiably supernatural, and it was his best bet for finding anything relevant. The inside was incredibly cramped, filled to the brim with weird odds and ends, and even weirder memorabilia. Laid prominently on a table was a book entitled "The Apocalypticon".

Space Kid picked up the book and moved a pile of beaver skins off the chair to make space for him to sit down so he could read it. He skipped through the first chapter, which consisted entirely of natural disasters, and flipped to chapter 2, Supernatural Disasters. Space Kid read this part in a bit more detail, but neither the Rapture, nor Y2K nor Nostradamus nor the Mayans provided a reasonable explanation for what he had seen. 

Flicking through a bit further, he moved on to Chapter 3; Concerning Magic and other Dimensions. This was a lot more promising. The book described the dimensions in detail from line, shape, object, time, quantum space, all the way up to the 9th dimension, the shadow dimension, and how magic worked in each of them. With that knowledge, he reckoned that it was possible, theoretically, for someone or something to use magic to make everyone disappear, and trap them all in a different dimension. Why anyone would do that was still a mystery.

Thoughts of Harrison sprung to mind. ‘Harrison wouldn’t do this.’ Space Kid thought. ’At least not on purpose.’ He took another look at the passage. The 9th dimension described white sand, and bony grey, sunless sky, very much like what he saw in his dream on the night everyone disappeared. Intensely focused, he read the next part of the passage aloud.

“The 9th dimension contains nothing but a vast expanse of sand and a singular cave, made with the flesh of livestock. The dimension itself was created a prison for the shadow beast Umbradim, a fearsome creature, variously described in legend as being between 30ft and 50ft tall. Supposedly it is not susceptible to the sword, but as with all legends, the enemy of darkness is light.”

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?” Space Kid laid the book down on the table and took a look around, hoping to find something meaningful, which was kind of difficult, what with half the room not being lit up by the window. 

He fumbled thorough his bag and fished out the torch he’d packed, and not needed to use since he left Houston. Flicking it on, a cylindrical cascade of bright light emanated from the bulb, casting a wide ray in front of it.

“Hmm.” Space Kid looked around. The book definitely said that the shadow beast was weak to light, but there was something about how horrific it sounded that made him doubt his torch would do something against it so he searched for something that might focus the light. He cast his torch across some the shelves, which were filled to the brim with assorted trinkets that belonged to Quartermaster, none of which looked like helping Space Kid.

He cast his torch again at the shelves opposite, and to his surprise, the light was reflecting off something and scattering into different directions. Space kid took a closer look at the shelf and noticed a triangular prism, about 35cm long, with triangular mirrors forming a point on one end. Picking it up, he shined his torch through one end, and found that the light was bouncing off the mirrors and illuminating the whole prism with an almost blinding light.

“Why would quartermaster have this?” Space Kid asked himself, as he studied the prism further. ‘Then again, he probably has something for every apocalypse.’ He thought, remembering back to when Harrison told him about all those plants in the forest. 

Space Kid set about finding some duct tape so he could hold his torch-prism-lightsword together, which wasn’t too hard, since there was already some laying on the table in front of him. He returned to the book to see if there was anything he missed.

“The 9th dimension is bizarre in nature. Even without light it is possible to see your surroundings. However, since the dimension is entirely cast in shadow, that also means Umbradim is completely invisible, unless you have a light source of your own.” Space Kid read aloud. He flicked through the rest of the book to see if there was any information on how to get to the 9th dimension, but to no avail. He put the book down and did one final search of the room, but having not found anything useful, he left the storeroom and began to look elsewhere, prismatic sword in hand.

There weren’t many other places to look. Spooky Island maybe, but he’d been there before and seen nothing supernatural, apart from Jasper, and Space Kid doubted that he’d be of much help. There was supposedly another place, which Harrison had mentioned before; a cave, with even weirder odds and ends than what was in the storeroom.

In Harrison’s story, Space Kid knew that it was near where that meteorite landed, but not in the forest. Using that logic, he worked out which direction to walk in and after a few minutes, he found himself in front of the aforementioned cave. 

He peered inside, switching on his torch to get a clear look, and having made his way past jellied eyes, bat wings and other thing like that, he cast his eyes on a book gathering dust on a shelf. ‘Dimensional Travel for the Uninitiated.’ Space Kid took the book, dusted it off, and opened it up.

The book had a lot of detail for every dimension, but Space Kid, feeling pressed for time, skipped ahead to the 9th dimension, and read the text carefully.

“Travelling to the 9th dimension requires a specific type of portal. This involves creating a ring of light around a wall of shadow, and setting a flame to the centre of it while reciting the incantation written below.” The incantation was written in some unintelligible language that Space Kid didn’t understand but he persevered, looking for some materials.

He stopped when he looked at the wall and saw an incomplete ring of twigs and twine and leaves arranged haphazardly onto it. Quartermaster had clearly attempted to create the portal, Space Kid noticed, but he’d run out of time. Gathering a few sticks from outside, Space Kid fixed and completed the ring of leaves and, taking a lighter from the table, he set fire to it. Smoke billowed from the burning sticks and leaves, but Space Kid wasn't too concerned about it. 

After that he held the book and read out the text as well as he could muster, holding the lighter to the centre of the wall, before taking a look at the ring of fire in front of him. The shadowy circle that was once a stone wall was now a swirling mass of black, and Space Kid noticed his hand was slightly immersed in it, and he recoiled. His hand wasn’t hurt in anyway but it made Space Kid jump nonetheless. 

Steadying himself with a couple of breaths in and out, he grabbed the prismatic sword and walked into the portal, with it switched off and stashed into his bag, uncertain as to whether he could make it back in one piece.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may have taken a while, but i'm glad it's done! It's all coming together!
> 
> I hope you Enjoy, and Please leave comments/kudos if you do!

**Author's Note:**

> Feel Free to Comment and Give Feedback!


End file.
